Rise and fall
by Lemylion
Summary: Schism. A dark and mysterious event that saw the rise of Grima to power and changed the known world forever. As the events of that time unfold, follow Grima's (most likely short) story as a l-o-l-i Manakete through the event while she has no idea of what the fate has in store for her. Pre-Awakening, (probably) lore friendly. Rated T to be safe
1. Fateful encounter

**Note : Hello and welcome to my first story, hope you enjoy.**

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**Chapter 1 :** A fateful encounter

_...I've heard of madness incomprehensible to common folk, born from their greed and arrogance, contained within Thabes. Eventually, it shall emerge, and proceed to lay devastation__ on its path. But perhaps ..._

_-???_

* * *

The pillar of sand crumbled for an nth time. Well, no one could say she didn't try. Having escape from her attention, the death masks began to wander toward the hole whence they came, returning to the protective darkness of the labyrinth.

She turned her gaze toward the tower.

Several hundred meter high, and of an even width all the way to the top, it was the landmark of a ruined city in the middle of the desert.

Hovering above it, she could see the hole she emerged from earlier this day. She never consider what could exist above the ceiling. It was a magnificent sight, she could barely imagine the techniques that allowed it to be build in the first place.

But overall, whatever built the tower commanded respect, she had seen first hand (wing?) that making the solid walls that made the city wasn't an easy task, let alone replicating the colossal tower.

The air wavered and the world lost its colors and heat for an moment before her blast hit the tower, and it crumbled over the remains of the city below in a thick dust cloud. In the blink of an eye, it existance had been denied, there wasn't anything left to signal the position of the silent capital.

It was her craddle, a home, a prison, and certainly was wished to be her tomb.

Yes, there was no way, either the material were transported here or the landscape wasn't a desert at all when the city was built. Who would build a castle on sand ? Just imagine that thousands of years later, a very angry dragon emerge from below and decide to bury it as a revenge. Many more blast were fired at the city below.

It was a good day, she felt good, she was free. How long did she remained prisonner underground ? She couldn't tell, her memory was hazy. Why did she remained so long underground anyway ? Getting out now hadn't been a challenge at all.

The image of a conqueror draped in azur and his queen enveloped in crimson flashed into her mind.

They had to have broke the seal of the laboratory. It was only a matter of time before she could break it herself of course but they helped. It was the thought that counted right ?

Hold on, she was partially sure they tried to kill her a some point. She should get back at them.

Suddently she noticed a presence, different from the few humans she had met, or anything else she knew (that were the death mask that guarded the laboratory), but yet oddly familiar.

Slowly, carefully, someone was approaching her. The person was using a walking staff and would've been tall was it not bending. He was hiding his body under red robes, so only his hands and face were visible. She hoverrd down toward the singular figure.

"Ah, I see you've notice me. They call me Bantu."

The person feigned to look around the ruin that surounded them, but not finding anything to focus his sight on.

"It's such a shame that you couldn't see the city as it was before, little one."

Little one ? She was the small one there ? She could probably chew ten people like him in one bite !

"I am ..."

What was her name ? How did her creator refered to her ? She couldn't remember having been given a proper name.

"Where are your parent ? And why do you roam in your dragon form ?"

"I-I ... my creator left me long ago ... I've been here ever since ..."

Why was she telling him, a complete stranger all of this ? And why was she being genuine, she was made a GOD for ... the sake of her ? This did not seemed to concern Bantu in the slightest, and as he came closer, she flew a bit back."

"Oh, poor child, how long have you been there alone ? But you don't have to worry anymore, I'm here now. Now, you should get back into your manakete form, even in the desert, you are bound to have attracted the attention of some nomad like I have been."

"Manakete ?"

She was unsure of what he was talking about. And what did he meant, so far of community ? Why was he so determined of calling her young ?

"Well, yes ! If you don't return to your manakete form, you also expose yourself to the risk of degeneration !"

She was taken aback. What was he talking about ?

"And what if I'm already a degenerate ?"

"You ... How ?" Bantu mumbled. He then straighten to answer.

"Well, child, I don't think you have, you would know it, degeneration is an affliction that touched dragonkin ages ago, and forced us to take the form of manakete to protect ourself from it. We manakete are dragon that sealed away our power and assumed human form to stop degeneration. Dragon too proud to become manakete degenerated further into madness, became feral beast and gave in entirely to their urges of destruction."

"And what happened to them ?"

"It ended up in a war where they were vanquish and sealed away by the divine dragon ruler Naga, somewhere they couldn't bring harm anymore."

That was quite scary, she did not wanted to loose her mind and be sealed away again ... thinking of it, she always had frequent violent though ... if it had started, could she go back by becoming a manakete ?

"But I am not a manakete !" she screamed, "Is it too late for me ? Am I going to loose my mind too ?" she asked with a shaking voice.

"I believe as long you can think of something else than destruction, you are not to far too gone, child."

Now that was great ! She had a chance to remain herself !

"But we must act quick. Follow me, we need to perform the rite while it's not too late !"

She followed that person named Bantu into the east, completely unaware that a man had witnessed her deed in desert, alarmed by her devastating powers and her huge size.

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**Note :**** One day I will make a fake old accent for Bantu and rework his phrasing****.**** See ya next chapter if you're interested.**


	2. Manakete

**Note : We~ell, that took way longer than expected, sorry. oh, and please, don't hesitate to make me know if there is spelling or grammar mistakes, it'll help me improve. And sorry for sucking.**

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**Chapter 2** : Manakete

_In the north of the continent of Archanea is located the Anri's Path, named after the hero of the liberation war who crossed through the desert,__ the fire dragon graveyard and__ the north east icy mountains to receive the falchion and defeat Medeus._

_-_???

* * *

"So you are actually a dragon too ?"

Night had fallen. Around them, the desert had just began to dissipate the heat it had absorb during the day. Next to a cracking campfire, Bantu was cooking whatever he found was eadible in the vicinity.

"Then, can't you transform so you can fly ? We'd go so much faster, right ?"

Bantu took a deep breath and smiled painfully.

"It isn't that simple. You see, after Medeus' episode, we manaketes had loose the little trust the humans had for us, and therefor, it was best if we didn't transform back."

She stare a few second inside the fire before she asked :

"Yeah, but if nobody sees us, we should be fine right ? There's no harm done if it's just to go faster. And don't we need to be as fast as we can right now ?"

"...it's because I lost my dragon stone."

* * *

In the night, a shadow flew at speed that she never thought was possible. Bantu had said that manakete were still proud people, even thought they had to cast away their powerfull form and so, they very rarely allowed someone, even an other manakete to ride them.

But pride was the least of her problem when she was at risk of loosing herself, so she needed that dragon stones.

Acoording to Bantu, those special stones were presented by Naga to the other dragons as a way to prevent degeneration by sealing their power and draconic form within.

But because the form they assumed was weaker than the average human, they could free their true power for a short period if needed.

But the downgrade rebuted many dragons who refused to step down as owner of the world and they degenerated further, ultimatly resulting in a war between remaining dragons and manaketes.

The war was so violent most manaketes had their stone rendered useless as result of overuse, as they couldn't wait their power to recharge.

So the most power she could charge in, the longer she could use it anyway, she'd better put everything she got inside and be carefully using her dragonstone.

Flying was too good to renounce it like Bantu's did, it was so different than inside the labyrinth, the world's ceiling was so high and it's walls so far that she doubt they even existed, for the first time she had all the feedom to fly around, and it felt very pleasant.

She also had seen several things that attracted her interest, like that big warm light -the sun- that shone upon the world.

Everything seemed brighter in day time, the world was living, color were ... colorfull and bright, the air was warm. But she liked the night more, even if it was dark, she loved the sight of the moon.

The moon was so pretty, even if it wasn't as bright as the sun, it still provided light in the night, not intense and warm like the Sun's but gentle and white as if it was watching over her in the dark, to tell her darkness never are complete and a promise that light would come back.

But the moon wasn't all the night charm, the stars also were beautiful, the night sky was filled with stars, there wasn't a single part of the night sky that they didn't fill.

She had asked Bantu what they were and he answer he thought they were the souls of the passed ones, watching over people they held dear from the heaven.

She wondered if anyone was watching her, even though she had not give nor receive love from anyone untill now ...

She swore to herself that even if no star was watching over her now, there will be in the futur. And then, maybe she will become a star and watch over people herself ! Sure, she just needed to meet someone worthy first.

The temple was located at the other side of the continent, and so a variety of landscape offered to her sight : from the hot desert of the west side where they departed, they flew above several chain of mountains.

The sight was breath taking, mountains of every shapes everywhere met the eye, covered by snow dazzling in the light and with forest of sapling showing up here and there on the flank, and clouds drifting lazily, grazing the tops of the mountain.

At some point in the plains far away, she caught glimpse of a settlement. She couldn't figure what it was, so she asked Bantu.

"These are were humans live. Sometimes they are a few dozens and they build temporary camp, sometimes, thousands of humans live together in much bigger cities made of stone."

(Is that so ? How can creatures looking so weak could defeat me ? He stated it clearly, I am the ultimate life form ! I have to know !)

"How can a human have the power to defeat a dragon ?"

Bantu looked at her, visibly unsettled.

(I might have made a mistake putting it so bluntly. How should I justify the knowledge of human having defeated a dragon ? huuu think think think ...)

"It has happen that because a dragon went on rampage, a human had to take arms and defeat him, however those feat are exceptional and the hero never could have achieve it without the help and moral suport of his friends. But the need for humans to take on the dragonkin didn't rose in a while, for what we should be thankful to the united kingdom of Archanea that have preserved peace for nearly a thousand year now."

(ouf ! glad he did not asked but ...)

"The united kingdom ?"

"Yes. I might as well tell you the story since we still have a long way until we reach our destination."

He then shifted his position, closed his eyes and went into deep thinking. He was certainly reliving the story before he spoke.

"More than a thousand years ago, Dohlr, land of the dragonkins, led by the earth dragon Medeus waged war at humanity. During this time now called the War of Shadows, a hero named Marth and his friend fought for the sake of humanity against Medeus."

"That boy went through lot of hardship, loosing his kingdom and betrayed by his allies, but in the end he successfully ended the War of Shadows, sealing Medeus and restoring peace."

"However, it wasn't the end yet as merely three years after the end of the war, an other one called the War of Heroes broke, this time opposing Marth with one of his former ally. It turned out that everything was the result of the manipulations of the human sorcerer Gharnef to take revenge on his master and dominate the world, for what he managed to revive Medeus twice."

"In the end, the two wars were devastating for the several kingdom of Archanea, leaving most of them in bad shape, so every ruler finally appointed Marth as their successor. Marth then created the united kingdom of Archanea and made sure the dragonkins weren't persecuted again, even thought the human did not perceived well manakete after that episode."

"Tell me, what was Marth like ?"

"For I have personally met him and fought by his side, I can say he was a kind and caring person that always prioritized the wellbeing of his friends and his people before anything."

"Oh hum sorry, i meant, what did he looked like ?" (He seemed kinda nice though)

"Oh ... He had blue hair, wore blue cloths and owned a golden circlet."

(So it wasn't that Marth. But after all, I never did any harm to anyone so far, right ? Wait, does mistakenly crushing a death mask count ? oh, and those humans attacked me first, it was only retaliation, they definitively do not count.)

They finally reached the temple, current residence of the white sage sage Gotoh, also a member of the divine dragon tribe, and the teacher of that Gharnef guy according to Bantu.

The old building was covered by ice (so fitting to the name) making it look deep blue, and consisted of three towers linked by a lower -was it a hallway ?- , the whole thing forming the shape of a trident.

As she landed for him to step on the ground, an other old looking man came out the temple, also dressed in red scheme but his robes looked greater, thought to impress rather than just wear like Bantu's. In contrast to him, he also stood straight, had a white beard and his person had a very solemn look.

"Welcome, Bantu, old friend. who is this young girl, how may I help you ?"

"Sir Gotoh, this is quite long to explain, but this dragon never became a manakete, it would be wiser to start the rite right away and to talk later."

(Can i even enter inside here ?)

She was now hoovering 1 or 2 metters above the ground, looking at the ancient structure.

"R-really ? Of course, I'll prepare everything right away."

The old sage then drew a circle in the snow, went into the temple and exited a few minutes later with a shining blue stone in hand.

He then asked her to focus all of her power into the stone. Having no idea of how to do, she started to exhale her breath on the stone.

Apparently, this was good enough, the stone started to float and glow in the center of the circle, Gotoh just asked her to make sure she gave it her all It would take a while, she thought. She saw the two men enter the temple, certainly for Bantu to speak with Gotoh.

* * *

_The two men strolled through the hall.__ After a moment of silence, seeing that he wouldn't start talking first, Gotoh engaged :_

_"So, tell me, Bantu, who is that girl you brought here ?"_

_"I found her by the old city, alone. I do not now where she came from as no one was around. I guess she could have escape some slavers in the desert and got lost as she was unable to tell me her name or where she lived. Or she could have come from Thabes, but that would be strange, no one get near it since Gharnef was fell. She don't look like she belong to any dragon tribe I know either, but what do you think ?"_

_"Her appearance is indeed ... unique, and her power is also unfamiliar to me. I never saw anything like her. And yet there is no doubt possible, she is a dragon, and a scaringly powerful one. Her apparition in this time of crisis is also unsettling. It is truly the worst time for someone with godlike power like her to appear."_

_Bantu ticked._

_"You don't intend to put her to sleep too, don't you ?"_

_"It is the wisest thing to do, she is now more powerful than Naga was at her apex. At this point, it's not even garanteed that becoming a manakete would help her to avoid degeneration."_

_"You can't force someone to sleep all their life ! She, like everyone, has the right to live, meet new people, experiment !"_

_"... I've learned from the previous time. It just doesn't work that way, does it ? I will allow you to guide her in the world, but you will be assisted. We don't want to loose her somewhere, do we ? You don't exactly have an impressive track concerning travelling with children."_

_Bantu remained silent.__ He couldn't deny those facts._

_"I'm leaving to Constantinpolis, I will send you someone trustworthy from here. I also won't return here for some time, so be sure you have everything prepared when you leave."_

_Bantu was suprised._

_"But I thought you retired from human affair_ ?"

_"I was recently made aware of great disturbance in regions around Thabes and you said you found her around there, this is too much coincidence to be ignored. I will organize an expedition to Thabes and try uncover the truth. While I'll be here, I will also pay my respect to Naga."_

_Before he left, Gotoh turned to say one last warning._

_"Be careful old friend, while she is indeed young, she isn't a baby. Her power is unfamiliar and i sense some dark secret. In fact, it is truly a miracle that she haven't gone mad by now, and actually i fear she already is."_

* * *

She suddently fell on the ground. Even though it was soft enough to not get hurt by the fall, it was very surprising.

After getting up, she tried moving and stumbled into the snowy ground again.

(Ack ! COLD ! IT'S SO COLD)

She hurried in the temple as she suddently felt more attracted to the notions of 'house' and 'cloth', barely stopping in her rush to pick the now dark-purple stone in the snow.

Upon entering in the temple, she turned around. Somehow, she felt great urges to play with the white cold powder, but it'll have to wait, she was shivering too hard for anything right now. And the cold was starting to hurt.

When she finally found Bantu, he was sit on a chair and sipping from a cup of tea.

"Hey, Bantu, Bantu !"

He turned around, trying to localize the little girl that called him.

She had the appearence of a 12 years old human girl, with snow white hair reaching her waist and golden shining eyes. Curiously, her ears weren't long and pointy like any other manaketes he met and her complexion looked normal outside of being very pale.

In addition, her body, while underdevelopped, did not looked weaker than any human's. If it wasn't for the dragonstone in her hand, he could have mistook her for a normal girl.

And she was naked.


	3. The prince and the plot device

**Note :**** Sorry it took long again (but I don't think this interest people that much giving the number of review or message). I think it's safe to assume that I might take more or less one month per chapter. And I actually have no idea of how chapter two should be called. or basically any chapter.****(expectmeto****changechapternameatanytime)**

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**Chapter 3 **: The prince and the plot device

_Summoned by the king, Gotoh reached the capital where he would be charged with an important task only to dump it on Bantu._

* * *

The trip had been long. At least he was spared of the usual goofiness of the guards, it would have tired him to explain to each that his presence had been requested by the king himself.

While he was waiting, his gaze wandered through the window on the city bathed in sunlight below the castle.

It was impressive to see how much the millenium court had changed since he leaved a hundred years ago under king Constantine.

The man really revendicated his Altean roots, the traditionnal classic style of Akaneia had been replaced by more generic functional Altean architecture.

Not far, on the hill, could be seen the new obnoxious palace, it bright white walls and blue roof of the main building barely visible behind the numerous towers that seemingly sprout randomly from the castle without any order or logic.

Gone was the majestic dome of the old palace, pride of the akaneian architect, missing were it gracefull towers, witness of their skill.

The old palace was now serving as an intermediate court, and as a gate in the wall that was being built to cut the city from the new palace.

(It is a shame, for the rulers to cut themselves from their people)

Finally, a page invited him into the king study, breaking his though.

It was a rather big room, with painting hanging on the wall, with curtains to hide them if the king felt like it, and a great detailed map of the continent of Archanea with the old frontiers and major cities was carved on the floor.

An ornated desk was placed facing the door and of course, a glass bay was behind so that it would blind any visitors. The shield of seal was hanging above it, completing the scene.

King Hadrian was in his full battle gear, looking at the city thoughtfully through the gap of the closed curtains, holding Falchion as if it would vanish were he to release it.

The chancelor, a man in his late 50 clothed in a rich green sage garb, was right beside him, watching the door, most likely waiting for Gotoh to enter.

He discretly notified the king of Gotoh arrival.

"Ah, Sir Gotoh, pardon my rudeness but I am expected somewhere soon, so I'd like to get straigh to the point."

The king was obviously tensed. It made sense considering his grandfather basically banned Gotoh from the holy kingdom of Akaneia. But Gotoh was willing to let the actions of a person speak more than their lineage.

"I understand, my lord, so tell me, why did you summoned me after all these years?"

The king played nervously with Falchion's hilt as he gestured toward the map on the floor. Red and blue token were set across the map, more accuratly on the west side of the continent. He proceed to explain.

"You see, last month, we finally were able to root off the valmeses outside the mainland. They have been withdrawing their troops to the sea and it is our best chance to put an end to this mad war. If we manage to cut off their retreat, we might be able to deal a final blow to their then undefended empire on their land. It's a risky move, but one I am willing to take."

"Do not forget it is a war that your grandfather king Constantine started in his delusion."

It was a test to judge the king's temper. Much to his pleasure, the king didn't got angry, but let out a big sigh. He was wiser than the previous one.

"I know, Sir, and this is why I cannot let it befall on yet another generation. I would have liked to negociate, but i am afraid the Saint King Konrad is too angered by the action of my predecessors, so the price for peace would be too high for the country to pay. Therefor this part of war is crucial, and as the king, I shall command the army directly to end the war. This is why I am leaving. Your role if you accept, is to ensure with my friend Marius that my son, the prince Ylisse, receive proper education, and were I to go missing during the campain, assist him in his duty for as long as you can."

As soon he said those word, a knight entered the room and informed the king that the army was ready to leave. He faced Gotoh one last time.

"Well Sir, this is farewell for now. I deeply apologize for the actions of that my grand father and father have taken, and I wish you to know that I have lift your exile and that I am ready to make public excuses on my return. I was hoping maybe you would accept to come back teach magic at the academy."

Hadrian then followed his knight out of the room. The meeting was brief but the king made an overall good impression on Gotoh. He was a noble man that knew what was at stake and strived for peace.

The chancelor then came to Gotoh, hand extended for him to shake. He took the offer and listen what he had to say.

"Sir Gotoh, it is a pleasure to meet you. I look forward working with you in the future."

"Sir Marius I presume."

Marius smiled and gave a short bow.

"Indeed. His majesty was in quite a hurry, so allow me to fill you with the details. I am currently chancelor and I will be regent of the kingdom until king Hadrian return. However, I fear that the situation of the continent is ... unstable, even if we take the valmeses out of the picture, so much to my regret, I may not be able to help the education of prince Ylisse with you during the campain, so i am trusting you with this task."

Well that was suprising. Why would a man give up such an easy chance to get further in the good grace of the royal family, and the royal successor over that ? Something was fishy, and Gotoh gave the chancelor a sever gaze.

"N-not that I am letting you take all responsibility, but the young man say he have nothing to learn from me ! Not much more from his teachers either. He's ... well, you'll see."

Gotoh stroke his beard. He would like to meet the prince, but if he did not need a teacher ...

"I understand. Maybe he should make a tour of his kingdom to catch a glimpse of the task that will await him as the king. After that, he may realize he still have much to learn, as we do all."

"I-I agree, but it might be dangerous for the prince life to go alone outside of the Akaneian region in this time of war. That's the reason he wasn't allowed to go outside of the capital until now."

"Hum ? Well, he must have some bodyguard to protect him and close friends that also train for battle does he not ? The war is currently shifting in your favor according to the king and Marth managed to survive in a far less forgiving time, with a far less favorable odds, did he not ?"

"I... I guess you are right. Very well, I shall allow him to go outside, just make sure he is constantly under cautious watch. You can find him by the court of the inner palace at this time of day, usually sparring with his friends."

"Thank you. But before I take my leave, can i ask you a few questions ?"

"Sure, I will try to answer with the best of my ability and knowledge on the matter."

"About the unstability of the kingdom you mentioned, does it relate in any way to the desertification of the altean region ?"

"I-I do not know how you are aware of that ! This is a state secret but yes it may have some hidden influence, but more specifically, the region has become agitated. The latest years of war had taken place in that region before they were repelled to Grust a month ago. The region is virtually ruined and starving, and the progressing desertification doesn't help with food shortages. With all that chaos, it was enough for a local lord to start reclaiming independance for Altea, under his rule of course, but a good part of the population support his cause actually. Those people are desesperates and cannot see that they will die of hunger if we really cut off everything, but from their perspective, without the war started by the kingdom, they wouldn't starve. Now how did you learn about that !?"

"Do not forget that while I have discarded my dracostone, I am still a manakete. Even something slow like desertification would never goes unoticed by my observing gaze."

"I-I see, please, forget my outburst, I am simply stressed..."

"I understand. Now I have a request, I wish to travel to the Marmothod desert, so would it be possible to gather an expedition team ?

"Huh ? You do not intend to travel with the prince ?"

"Helas, no Marius, I am afraid that if he won't listen to you or his teacher, he has no reason to listen to me. But I have recently met someone who is also eager to see the world and I believe it would be for benificial for both if they were to travel together. Meanwhile I need to investigate the ruin of Thabes."

Marius let out a sigh. He was probably upset at the idea that none of them chosen by the king to ward his son would actually do the job.

"I see. Well, with most valid men enrolled in the army, gathering a skilled expedition team for a place as dangerous as the desert will take some time. I will publish a bounty right away, but you may have to wait some month, even with the kingdom backing you up for fournitures, to have a full expedition into the desert."

Gotoh touched his beard, thoughtful. Time was the least of his worry.

"Do not worry, I have time. Thank you for answering me, I shall now talk with the prince."

They parted with a final handshake.

* * *

He found the prince in the garden, close to the wall. He was assisting to a sparring match between two knights -for a brief moment, the image of Abel and Cain overlapped their- while a blond girl was standing at his side.

While both were using wooden cavalry longsword, "Abel" was assuming a defensive stance and was carefully watching "Cain" movement, waiting for an opening in "Cain" furious assault. "Cain" was trying to break "Abel" balance, and was unsuccessful because the later was quick enough to parry all his blow, however "Abel" had to back off under the strengh of the hit so he had to make sure he never had an obstacle behind him to not be cornered. The fight was dragging on in circle and due to always be attacking with fierce blows, "Cain" knew he would hit his stamina limit before "Abel" did, so he decided to put all of his might into a vertical smash intending to take the recoil on "Abel" sword to keep his momentum and sweep behind his guard but "Abel" saw through this and instead of parrying the blow, he took a step to the side and swoop "Cain" legs while he was off balance.

"Greeting prince Ylisse."

"Cain" made a quick roll, passed under "Abel" horizontal sweep and gave him a strong kick in the chest. "Abel" found himself laying on the floor and a sword pointed on his neck.

While he protested, "Cain" offered a hand that he took before everyone turned to face the newcomer. The prince took initiative and talked first with a nonchalent sign of the hand.

"Greeting Sir. I take that you are a new teacher my father found and deemed usefull to send me."

That wasn't a good first impression. It looked like he inherit more of his great grandfather suffisance than his ancestor kindness or his father wisedom.

He understood why the chancelor had dumped the prince on him, and he was starting to feel guilty about now sending him to Bantu and his ward.

He bowed quickely before answering. He needed to get on his good side to convince him to travel with the dragon because he had the hunch that it would be better than just picking some bodyguard. Better for everyone.

"Well, my lord, not exactly. You may know that your father is currently leaving to the frontline of the war and I am supposed to educate you. However I am aware that you are very confident in your skills, so you will likely not even listen to my teaching."

"Indeed, Sir, I am proud to say I am as ready I can ever be, I know everything about the kingdom, from it's availible ressources, to geography politic situation, and my tactical talent is cunning according to the royal tactician that currently assist my father."

He said all of that with a complete confidance, right hand on his chest and the left behind his back, standing straight and with a perfectly even voice.

"He's also a skilled duelist, none of us managed to beat him during our sparring session."

It was the blond girl who spoke. With her straigh posture and elegant clothing, she looked like she belong to nobility. From her tone and slight blush looking at the prince, she was most likely in love with him.

"Aww, come on Lizzie, don't be modest ! You bested him once !"

"But it wasn't a duel Isaac ! It was a battle training and I had the weapon triangle advantage !"

(Ah, so she is not just a noble courting the prince, she also have some military training. Most likely as a pegasus knight.)

"But a victory is still a win, and history will retain nothing else."

"Not you too Eugen !

Isaac and Eugen high fived and laughed at the furious red "Lizzie". She apparently wasn't at ease with having beaten the prince in a battle. Then Ylisse spoke again.

"Hem. Please excuse my friends, sir, they are not the most serious people around."

"Well you certainly are the most stuck up person around. The old man is most likely more laid back than you !"

Smiling at Isaac comment, Gotoh straightened and faced the prince.

"I see you are quite a merry company. So as I was saying, my lord, I don't think I have much to teach you right now, but I caugh that you never made ot past the city, so with the chancelor approval, I propose you to go outside the city and see the country that you will one day rule."

The prince suddenlty was more interested in what the old manakete was saying.

"Really ? Can I really go outside !?"

"If I tell you."

The prince jumped in the air and his friends came to congratulate him, seemingly forgetting that Gotoh was still there.

"WOUHOU ! I finaly can make it outside, YEAH !"

"However."

That simple word stopped them in their joy. Everything seemed so close yet so far suddently. Whatever will come out, it would only be restriction to certain exciting areas, or even worst : a new limit to not trespass, maybe the original kingdom borders. They looked at Gotoh silently, awaiting the sentence.

"I humbly ask you, if you will, to start your journey with the ice dragon temple. There, you will meet with my friend Bantu and his ward, who is as excited as you are to see the world."

A huge relief gained them, they all relaxed and after agreeing to pack their equipment to leave tomorrow, the prince answered to Gotoh request.

"Of course we will. It would be an honor to accept your request, you, our benefactor. Thank you for bringing us such a good new, certainly you must not be a stranger to that decision."

After that he bowed shortly and took his leave to prepare for the upcoming journey.

* * *

**End note : So I tried several things during this chapter such as :**

**-an action scene. ****It is certainly bad, but like everything, it should have good points (maybe?) and weak points, so if you will, please tell me what you liked and didn't.**

**-focus on characters actions during dialogue to try fleshing them (?).**

**If you were bothered by the info dumping, please say so (I will just try to figure out how to improve that so you don't feel bored)**

**Also sorry, the loli dragon will come back next chapter.**


	4. No more snowman

**Note : ****In chapter 1, risen are(were) called ... well, risen. This is obviously a continuity error since the term "risen" was created and adopted in Chrom time, in that timeline, Grima should know them as "death mask". Oops !** **I should also have updated this fic description, I hope it**** improved.**

* * *

**Chapter 4 :** No more snowman

_As they wait for the party to assemble, some bandit made their way toward the temple. Why they choosed to establish their base there and never spend their spoil, who knows ? (it was certainly because of gravity or stuff like that.)_

_-???_

* * *

Skies were cloudy today, it seems that it would snow today too. But she was getting tired of snow.

Sure it was very pretty when it falled and recovered everything of a pure white mantle but there really wasn't anything more to it after the 100th snowman and weeks of waiting.

She had found herself a gift for alchemy, and studying the question behind Bantu's back, it appeared that snow had no interesting alchemistic properties allowing her to build an over powered golem bodyguard -she did manage to create golem, but at best, they were weirdly shaped snowmen that could only throw snowballs (but what kind of creature is weak against snow ?)- she had expected more of a giant snow titan with ice for teeth, able to punch his way through anything she'll order him.

Beside that, they also had a much bigger issue, they just were awful because the snow refused to keep the form she gave it, sometimes they had weird proportions because when she really got into details she forgot to scale the whole thing, and worst of all, their quality never seemed to improve, as she was unable to tell which was made the first just by looking at the snowmen -or maybe she didn't wanted to aknowledge they may were becoming worse with every one-. She had tried to compact snow to make it more solid and give it a proper shape, but then it became too heavy and the sculpture broke. It was more infuriating to see the first snowman Bantu had built -Mr Niceman as he liked to call it- two weeks ago, it hadn't suffer any degradation despite being so round and big. Someone could think the element had a sick sense of esthetism.

In time, she began to build snowman farther each days to escape the amused gaze of Bantu and Mr Niceman, until she started making them in a ravine where they would at least be protected from the elements -and their sight-.

And that didn't worked, they were still pretty awful. In the mean time, she began to blow them without any remorse to train her fire spell. If dragonstone usage was limited, she would better start develloping alternatives for when she would no longer be able to transform and it would help her to not carelessly use it. After all, she wanted a long and happy life and the dragonstone was bound to run out one day. And she was far enough from Mr Niceman, so he would never witness her merciless act of cruelty against his kind.

(Two birds one stone, I destroy evidences and train. Well, it's more a favor than anything given the sorry state they are in, I don't think any of them would have liked to be seen, and it's also very embarrassing for me to be their creator...)

Suddently, she heard panting noise and peoples running in the snow behind her while she was building new snowmen and likely soon to be practice targets. Turning around she saw a handful of bulky muscular men, somehow bare torso despite the climate that made her wear four layer of clothing, carrying axes. She quickely hide behind the unfinished snowman and listen to them.

"*pant* *pant* ... We got hem ?"

"Yeshhh *pant* they're *pant* right behind ..."

"Damn *pant* who would have see *pant* the prince venture so far *pant* here ?"

"Ha *pant* Ha *pant* Ha ... They ... fell right into our trap ..."

One of them, the bulkier of them all, and arguably the ugliest took a deep breath and suddently, yelled :

"BOOOYS ! GET YAR ARSES OVER HEEERE !"

And right then, just like that, a small army of brigants appeared in the field. There must have been caves hidden under the snow or maybe humans could swim in the snow.

(Wait, that's stupid. There is no reason for that to be possible.)

She counted them and found them to be 24. They were probably all their clan regrouped here, and to her, they all lacked common sense and were bare torso. Even she, who had been walking in a human skin for only a few weeks felt she had more common sense than those men.

"So, boss, what's tha deal ?"

"Listen boys, this mornin', while we were raidin' village south to there, we were stopped by the prince !"

"I don't get it, did ya just came brag about bein' defeated, boss ?"

The boss punched the one who talked right on the nose to make him shut up.

"showwy, boss"

"So, the princelin' followed us right here ! He gonna arrive anytime now ! So get in position boys ! He mustn't escape and his friends are nobles for sure ! We're gonna touch a juicy ransom thanks to them !"

"Wow boss, you so smart !"

"I know boys, now SET THE AMBUSH ! ARE YOU DEAF !? And what are all those snowmen ?"

"hu?"

They suddently seemed to notice all her attempt at making snowmen that filled the ravine.

"Wow, I'm actually impressed boys, i didn't knew you were so good at makin' snowmen !"

"Thanks boss !"

The bandit boss walked straight to a snowman and in a swift strike of his axe, destroyed it.

"Sorry boys, but this is an ambush ! They musn't know we set this up and those screem : WE'RE HERE ! So hurry and destroy those !"

She was boiling. How dare they destroy her snowmen ? They might not be good and she might was going to destroy them anyway but only her could do that ! Taking a scolding pose while she left her hiding place behind the snowman. She was slightly excited though, they were the first humans she met in this form, so she was eager to see their reaction. Was her disguise perfect ? Will they be amazed ? Or will they perceive and respect her rightful place as a god ?

The barbarians, suddenly noticing her, were dumbfound at the apparition of the likeness of a snow white haired snow fairy dressed in black. Were she dressed in white they could have missed her. Without changing from her postion -that she had secretly practice to be able to look cool in the moments where the logic would seems to disappear inside a plot hole- she began to scold them.

"Hey, you goons ! Who allowed you to destroy my snowmen !"

"Hu ?"

"I KNEW IT ! I KNEW THEY WEREN'T TALENTED ENOUGH TO MAKE THOSE BOSS !"

"SHUT UP ! YOU NEVER BUILD BETTER THAN MINE ANYWAY ! MY SNOWMAN ARE TALLER THAN YOURS !"

Their boss punched them both. Well that was surrealist, she thought that she would have a much more impact on their simple minds. But since they didn't seems to question something else than topics related to themselves, her curiosity got the better of her and she asked a very important question :

"Hey ! How do you strip almost naked by the cold ? Tell me !"

The amazed expression some had got dumb and the dumb face the other had got even dumber. What kind of child greet barbarian with a question of logic ? Most of the time, they just ran screaming calling for the father they slaughtered or the mother they just raped and/or killed. Oh wait ! That was the logical answer ! They skipped a step, they hadn't killed her parent. Noticing the quality of her clothing, the chief asked to the young manakete :

"Say, girl, where are ya parents and where do ya live ?"

"Hey ! You should always answer before asking an other question ! And I asked first so answer now !"

They went into deep thinking. There were no barbarian school to teach them how to handle normal social interaction, and they weren't sure this was even normal anyway, so they just decided to follow the usual protocole. She seemed a bit young but she would do, they didn't had a girl for months now, and the last they met wasn't very cooperative.

"Listen, girl, I'm holdin' the axe, and ya don't hold nothin', so I'm the one who should be listened if ya don't want us to chop a few body parts. Now come with us and maybe we'll spare your life !"

At those words, remaining snowmen in the ravine suddently turned their head toward the barbarians threatening their mistress, even the half built one and the remains of those that were smashed -or they would if they still had head, it was hard to tell, but she knew they tried because they had a little remaining magic animating them-. They might have been suffering at her hand -mainly from the building part, not much from the blowing part if you could ask them-, but unquestionable loyalty still bound them to her.

Across the ravine, bandit suddently were under a barrage of snowballs. It wasn't very effective, but seeing the snowmen animate and throw snowballs was still surprising.

"How !? Did ya do that ?"

A small hint of interest shone in his eyes. One crafty man could always makes use of an army of snowmen.

"Hmm ... yes, maybe ?"

(A good question actually, I don't remember making them golem, but who else than me could have make them so ?)

"Haha ! Then ya'll be more useful than I though ! You're comin' with us, I'm sure my guys will make you accept anythin' we ask very fast."

"What ? You think that I will simply comply with everything you want !? Hmph ! You sorely underestimate me, you will taste my wrath !"

A dubious look replaced the smart light inside those eyes. She took her dragon stone and -

A big shadow flung quickly above them, for barbarian, he only had the time to look up and saw a white flash rob him of his victime.

The said victime was blinking and when she openned her eyes, she found herself in the embrace of a blond girl flying on a pegasi.

"Looks like I arrived just in time didn't I ? Are you alright ? One more second and that scum would have cut you in pieces."

The dragon was speechless. She never asked for help !

"How dare you carry me ! I had everything under control !"

The knight was baffled, why was this little girl so angry at her even though she've just saved her ! She saw her beginning to search through all of her pockets, a cold drop a sweat starting to ran down her back. The knight worried.

"Hey, are you alright ?"

"N-no ! I've lost it ! Hmph, it's your fault ! You'd better help me retrieve it !"

"Huh !? What are you talking about ? Hey ! Stop moving so much, you'll fall !"

"Who even are you in the first place !? And what are you doing here !?"

"The name's Elisabeth and I'm the knight in shiny armor riding the white steed that just saved you, ungrateful child ! So you should better thank me ! Me and my group were following those raiders since the morning, and now we finally caught up to them, we will end their activities once and for all."

When she heard that, she suddently remembered what the bandits were talking about earlier. One look at the ground below confirmed her fears ; she saw three cavaliers already engaged in the ravine, proceeding quickly toward a handful of brigants, not knowing it was a trap. They began to descend toward the group.

"WAIT ! IT'S A TRAP AHEAD !"

"Huh ? How is it a trap ?"

One cavalier clad in white approach them, the two other, one red and the other blue followed, oddly, while all were equiped with cavalier longsword, only the red and blue one had a lance, the white was equiped with a rapier. They were visibly confused by the presence of a little girl so far from any known village, but she didn't had time for that. The little girl explained :

"I saw them before you came ! They were about 24, and they are currently hidden under the snow, waiting for the right moment to ambush you !"

The white cavalier frowned.

"What do you mean ? We've dealt with most of their group, they were at most 4 bandits to escape our grasp. Beside, hiding under the snow seems to be a really dumb idea, they'll die of hypothermia eventually."

"But I tell you they have set an ambush ! I think there might be a cave network under the ravine or something where they live !"

"That's just not possible. There is no way they could live in a cave network under the ravine, they'd have to use fire to see and they would eventually die of suffocation, or we would see the smoke. Moreover, this place is far too remoted to be an interesting place where they could install an operation base."

"But I tell you !"

"Anyway, we still have to fend them off. Unlike us, they did not have horses to flee, they must be tired of running all day. Now is the time to finish the job !"

Soon after, the three cavaliers charged toward the four bandits at the end of the ravine while Elisabeth still holding her took her flight to assist them from above, despite her vehement protestation.

(Hngh ! Why won't they listen to me ? I don't even have my dragon stone right now, I'll have to make use of fire spell instead, good thing I've trained.)

When they got at throwing distance from the bandits howerver, the snow just before them blew and a dozen of bandits appeared under their eyes. When they try to retreat to gain more space, an other dozen of bandit also appeared behind them. The chief approached them and laugh satisfied with the execution of his plan.

"Ha ha ha ! Ya ain't so cocky now ! I tell ya : surrender and ya'll return to were ya belong without too much hurt !"

They faced toward the chief and prepared to fight for their lifes. After a bit more reflexion though, they turned to the part of the circle whence they came. They had more odds of survivals fighting the weaker mobs first and retreating rather than taking on the boss and all his minion head on. Seeing that, the pegasus knight prepared to dive on them as well.

"Looks like you were right, sorry. I'll have to dive to help them, can you handle it ?"

She took a satisfied face.

"Of course it's fine by me ! I can even help and throw some fire spells !"

"You're a mage ? Aren't you too young to train for battle magic though ?"

"Hmph, I'm more competent than I look ! Now watch them burn !"

"Ok, but you shouldn't target those they are attacking, risk are too high. Try to impede the movement of those on the other side."

The sky knight smiled and changing her focus to her target. She saw a fire ball throwed toward the boss and dove toward a bandit, lance ready.

"Do you seriously think we'll agree to that ?"

"Haha, good, I like the mind. Go on guys, chop as many part you want, teach them fear !"

The bandit charged as well, but suddently, a fireball hit the snow before them and instantly vaporised some snow, effectively making a smoke screen. Using that diversion, the cavaliers charged sword ready and broke the line of enemy behind them. After the initial charge, four bandit were shot down and they safely met up with the pegasus knight while the rest was regrouping.

"Arh, don't worry boys, they can't escape us !"

The first line of bandits charged at them. They were able to repell it but a second wave managed to push them back and the white cavalier fell of his horse. Their chief then approached him with a shiny purple stone in hand. Seeing it, the manakete jumped of the pegasus and landed on the bandit head, successfully retrieving her precious dragon stone.

"Hey wait ! What are you doing ! It's dangerous to throw oneself in the middle of the battle !"

The sky knight dove quickly to bring her back to safety. However the little girl was shaken when the bandit stood up and she took his fist right in the forehead, knocking her cold.

"Stupid brat !"

The bandit spit on her, and then readied his axe to finish her but he took a lash at his face. The prince had gotten up and was in combat stance, rapier in hand.

The duel started, and despite being effectively side blinded by the blood flowing from his cut into his eyes, he was being very precise and fast. The prince had to use all his skill and speed to not being cut in pieces. He had to recognize that the bandit had more experienced against sword users than him against axe users, but eventually, if he kept dodging, his enemy would tired up. He also was carefull to get as far as possible from the girl.

"Tch ! I've ran kilometers today, i'm tired to swing my axe at ya, i want an EASY victory ! Stop flyin' away, you blue-blooded chicken, or else !..."

His fear was confirmed when he saw the bandit turn and ran toward the girl. He quickly throw himself after the bandit and stab him through the stomach. Screaming in agony, the chief bandit turned around and throw a kick in his own stomach sending him fly away while Elisabeth secured the girl's body and rised again in the sky.

The pain was intense, he vomited. The chief bandit walked up to the prince, lifted his axe, he thought about all good moment he had with his friend and saw them, fighting for their life, Isaac was madly charging and swinging his sword, Eugen was attempting to fight while retreating to fight only one bandit at the time, Elisabath was trying to help thel as much as she could while holding the incounsious girl, He thought of his father he still hadn't pleased and of -

A silver lance ran through the bandit's mouth as a heavy armored cavalier rushed into battle. The prince felt his bruises disappear and his fatigue vanishes, certainly the effect of healing magic. He heard a voice.

"Daaw, there goes the last use of my fortify. I hope it was worth it."

An angry and snappy familiar voice answered back.

"Of course it was ! You've saved the life of the only heir to the archaneian throne !"

Shillt. His retainer. That woman somehow found her way to him again. She had that talent, to always being able to locate his position, more or less precisely depending on the concentration of the coffee she get in the morning seemingly, not that he was complaining much about it right now. She've most likely just saved his life. He was clueless about the identity of the second person however, he never met them before.

His retainer assisted him back to his feets, and proceeded to a careful checking.

"Are you all right, my liege ? Seems like you are. Rest here for now, I shall deal with the trash."

"W-wait ! I still can fight !"

"Of course my lord, but please, do not leave my side if you come in battle."

She smiled while she got back on her horse. Ylisse only got time to reach his own he saw his retainer charge on the group that had cornered Eugen. She then joined on Isaac ride and easily dispatched them. Quickly enough, she turned the tide of the battle by her mere presence. The bandits were pretty much isolated by her constant charging and Ylisse and his friend had a very easy time picking and finishing brigants one by one. The priest had almost no work to do for the rest of the battle.

* * *

Finally, when the last bandit fell, they piled up their corpses and while Shillt prepared the stake, he noticed Elisabeth yelling at the priest. He joined Isaac and Eugen and asked them why they were arguing. They answered by showing the scene.

"Sigh, do i really have to check her state ? She look pretty fine to me, I even used fortify at the start of the battle, so you should all be fine !"

"Yes, please, check her state. If you don't understand how grave head injuries can be, maybe you will understand after suffering one yourself."

Answered back Elisabeth who didn't looked pleased at all.

"Ok ok, just don't kill me, she-demon !"

While Isaac and Eugen barely managed to stop her from chocking the priest, he checked her head. From touching, there didn't seemed to have something else than a contusion, but he used a heal staff to heal eventual internal injuries.

"All clean ! Well, it seems that it was just a concussion, nothing was broke and I don't think any brain damage was issued, but I used a heal staff to be double sure."

"Thank you."

Muttered Eugen while he struggled to keep Elisabeth in check.

Shillt came to them. Behind her, the corpses were burning and soon the stench of burning flesh would fill the ravine.

"We should get to move. Night's soon going to fall and it's pretty cold at night. Or else we could spend the night near that great camp fire if the smell don't bother you."

"Hmm no thank you, we'll get moving, ma'am."

Shillt and the priest rode on her horse, but when they prepared to ride down the ravine, Ylisse stoped them.

"Hmm, Shillt ?"

"Is there any way I could serve you, my liege ?"

"Hmm yes, where are you returning back ?"

"Didn't you went here to do something about thosd rainding bandit ?"

"Actually, no, before we left, sage Gotoh asked us if we could come over here and take a friend of his and a child on our trip."

"Oh, that's pretty considerate of you. Where would they be residing ?"

"In an old ice temple, that is located further up, according to the village we saved earlier."

"Ok, I'll open the way then."

Shillt turned her steed and they began to climb their way up. Not much happened during this time so, while Isaac and Eugen were comparing their battle performance, Ylisse striked up an conversation with Elisabeth.

"Hey, Lizzie, is the girl all right ?"

"She seemed to be fine. I think she's sleeping now."

"I saw a fireball during battle. Was it her doing ?"

Elizabeth looked uneasy for a moment. What in the world could be so bad that a child had to learn the art of destruction magic ?

"Oooh is that a headless snowman ?"

It was the priest, he rode on the back of Shillt's horse. Did he even considered himself a holy man though ? They were supposed to be kind and considerate, not jerks more concerned about their belonging than life.

"Hey, are you angry at me perhaps ?"

"Shillt, were did you find that priest ?"

"Ooh, refusing to talk to me now ?"

"Somewhere between the last village and here. Since the villagers told me you were planning to engage on a camp full of bandit, I figured he could be useful."

"He refused to heal that girl."

"Hey I used a fortify, you all were healed and that should have include this girl ! There was no need to double check."

Because of Elizabeth silence, it was Ylisse that answered him.

"She's just a child, any responsible adult would take double care of a child."

"Oh talking to me now ? I'll have you know she's not any child. Look."

He took out a shiny purple stone out of his robe. It had an ominous aura that sent shivers down their spines.

"That girl is a manakete judging from this dragon stone, meaning she could be hundred years older than you or me and you wouldn't even know."

"What ? I though manakete had pointy ears and other defining traits that helped identify them as such ! Also, if this is her dragon stone, why are you in possession of it ?"

Ylisse puzzled face didn't took long to shift to suspicious.

"I took it while i was examinating her. Hey, don't give that look, I wasn't intending to steal it, just making sure she wouldn't lost it, I swear !"

Something made Elizabeth tick.

"Wait, so you find out she was a manakete after I dragged you to check on her ?"

"Huu, yes ?"

She suddently fasten her ride's pace and came to punch him.

"Then you didn't knew she was before and you still have no excuse to not help a child you idiot !"

She then add while Shillt help him to get back on her horse :

"And 'They're actually a manakete' still isn't a reason to not help someone."

He looked down for the rest of the travel.

"Ok, not the greatest start here. Right, I don't know them yet, I should get closer and be more careful if i want to stick with them."

* * *

**End note : I scrapped 2 version of this. I don't know if this is actually relevant, but hey, recently, Zeppy hopped into azur lane and I'm quite fond of her. She's pretty similar to how I want my Grima to be. She might have been pretty annoying here. Well until I can figure it, it's gonna stay that way. No, I don't think I'll use snow golem again.**


	5. Nice to meet you

**Note : ****As usual, I ask for your indulgeance should you find any glaring mistake, and (if you are feeling like it) a pm to help me to find and correct them. Thank you and good read.**

* * *

**Chapter 5 ****:** Nice to meet you

_After the battle, prince Ylisse's escort travel to the temple with the young uncouncious manakete. Upon waking up, she meets her saviors and they decides to tag along their road trip._

* * *

It was early in the morning when she woke up, after a great nap. Sleeping was a great way to pass time, but getting to sleep was harder, she thought. That was because she always was excited about when she'll finally leave the temple and see the world, that could be any day. How did she managed to get sleeping this time, she wondered while she return curling under her blanket.

Then she remembered what happened, the bandits, the loss of her dragon stone, her jumping on the chief bandit head to recover it. She jumped out of the bed, looking at her surrounding. She was back in the temple, so that meant her improvised ally must have won the battle somehow.

She relaxed a bit. She would have to thank them for taking her back here. Being fully awake now, she gave a thought about going back to bed, but finally she dressed up and she spotted and grabed her dragonstone resting on the bedtable.

(Ouf, i was afraid they lose it or discarded it. They don't know the meaning of it yet.)

While she was at it, because she was cold, she took the fluffy white blanket as a cape. She then left her bedroom wity a last glance, but found nothing forgotten.

While making her way through the hallway, she suddently came across yesterday's white cavalier.

"Oh ! hem ! Good morning ... miss ... ? I'm terriblely sorry, I don't think I caught your name yesterday."

She raised her hand so fast Ylisse could swear he heard the wind whistle, and with a big smile she said :

"Hi ! I'm Mawwi and I'm a manakete !"

The cavalier made a quick bow.

"Well, nice to meet you, miss Mawwi. How are you feeling after yesterday incident ?"

"Oh, hm ... I'm fine, I guess ? But now that you mention it, could you tell why were you present yesterday ?"

(No reaction ? Really ? Aren't manakete like super rare ?)

"Ah ! I'm terriblely sorry, I forgot to introduce myself ! My name is Ylisse Vespas Flavian, prince of the United Kingdom of Archa-"

"Wait wait ! Does that mean you're related to the hero king Marth !?"

Ylisse's eyes lost focus as he searched his words for a second. Her eyes were shining of excitement.

"Hem, yes, I am indeed his latest descend-"

"Woah so cool ! Hey, tell me : is your sword is the legendary Falchion ? Does it glow in the dark ? Please, let me take a closer look. Oh, it's not as pretty as I imaginated. I thought it would be wider, and perhaps with something neat as it guard, I don't know, like extended wings or an ornated guard with four crystal shards, you know, like claws. Maybe it's too ornate. how about a simple silver hilt with a wide gold blade... wait maybe the reverse ? Or maybe it could be fully made of gold with bright gems in the base of the blade..."

Ylisse looked awkwardly at his rapier sheathed at his waist.

"W-well, actually this isn't the Falchion, only my father the king gets to wield it, this is only my trusty rapier."

She tilted her head, looking a bit disappointed.

"Oh, I see..."

But suddently she straightened.

"Hey that mean it could look co-"

"And Falchion don't look like anything you said, it have a guard in the shape of a "ω" with a red jewel in the middle, that's all and for the best."

"Oh ... Well that's kinda boring ... hey whay do you say if I make a blueprint and reforge it-"

"No. The balancing of the weight in a sword is a very important element, or else, you will have troubles to use it efficiently."

"Hey ! What do you mean ?"

Ylisse sighed. He started moving slowly toward the central area where his friends should already be present at this point. And he woke up early for once ...

"It mean that even if you are a thousand year old dragon, you can't reshape a sword just because you think it would look cool. Beside, I have to be honest, those don't seems appealing at all."

She pouted.

"Oh yeah ? And how about you TASTE MY WRATH !"

The moment Ylisse saw her take out her fire tome, he began to run frantically in the hallway.

"How long is that corridor ? HEY DO YOU HEAR ME ? I hope they do, certainly they can avoid me to be burn alive. Yes, Bantu can certainly reason her. HEY, HELP !"

The first fireball crashed slightly behind his right feet. Throwing a glance behind him, he saw the little girl running and casting a spell. He started to zigzag and this time, the fire ball grazed his left arm and crashed before him. Jumping swiftly over the fire he saw the open area at the end of the corridor and sound of chatter came to his ears.

"HEY HELP !"

He saw Lizzie head appear in the entrance and back out, followed by her voice commanding to someone. He then felt a gentle cool protective aura around his body, just in time for another fire ball to crash harmlessly on his body. Reaching the promised secured area at last, he spotted Shillt sit at a table and went to her in search of protection.

Not long after, Mawwi came into the room. She scanned it. Close to where she was she saw yesterday's lady (Elizabeth if I remember correctly), some dude dressed in white robes with a blue shoulder cape wepping at a broken rod behind her, the green cavalier seemingly serving tea to Bantu and another woman with auburn hair wearing a turquoise armor with silver lining and a green cape she had never seen before, and with a closer inspection she saw Ylisse hiding behind her.

She went straight to Bantu and greeted him with a hug.

"Good morning Bantu."

"Good morning Mawwi. You know, it's not a great idea to start the day attempting to set our futur companions on fire."

"Oh, but I didn't meant harm, I just wanted to scare him a little."

With a sigh and head pats, Bantu explained.

"You know, you can't greet someone with a barrage of fireballs, without proper training, they will get killed. And even if they do not, they will start off with the impression you tried to kill them. They will ressent you for that while it could have been a great friendship."

"Ok, I see."

"Make amends now, will ye ?"

"I'm sorry Ylisse, I swear I didn't tried to end your life and I won't do it again."

"Good girl."

The head pat seemed so comfortable for the others that many almost asked for some just to feel what could bring the manakete in this state of bliss.

"So you have already met the prince party yesterday, but do you know their names ?"

"Hmm I remember Elizabeth over here and I recall seeing the person in green, I think there was a cavalier in red but I have never seen the other two."

Elizabeth made a small nod of aknowledgement.

"Call me Lizzie will you ? This is Eugen over here."

"Hello, would you like some tea too ? I have some treats that goes very well with the bitterness."

With a big smile he poured her a cup of tea. It was hot and bitter, but the sweets were good. She took more than he originally gabe her.

"This brew might be too bitter, maybe the next time I'll add some milk for you. And more treats, we'll need more."

"The guy in red was Isaac, he must still be sleeping right now."

"Aha ! Jokes on you, I've just woke up !"

The newcomer was someone who she couldn't figured if he was currently wearing his sleep cloth or if he slept with his regular cloth. If she concentrated long enough, the image of a much proper appearance came to her memory superposing to the currently messy red hairs and neglected appearance.

"You may have, but you're not even properly dressed up and I bet your room is a mess."

Isaac went running swearing, probably to his room. With a smile, Lizzie continued.

"The lady taking tea with mister Bantu is dame Shillt, Ylisse retainer and by extention, our teacher."

"Please, call me just Bantu."

"Haha, you flatter me, but you already knew how to fight. I'm more of a trainer than anything."

"If she hadn't come yesterday, the result of the battle might have been much more tragic."

"I see. Thank you for saving us."

Shillt made a small nod and sipped her cup. Mawwi felt her gaze on her, but she heard noise of cloth and the white haired dude previously grieving at a broken staff rose up.

"And I am-"

"He's an unremarkable priest Shillt picked up on her way to save us. Don't get too attached to him, we'll exchange him for the first priest we meet in the next town."

"Why are you so cruel ?"

The priest left into the corridor, his complain gradually fainting with the distance. Shillt and Eugen chuckled before she picked up.

"His name's Mars. He's a very decent healer, trading him for another of equal skilled will be difficult."

"Meh, finding someone of superior skill shouldn't be very difficult, and they will probably pack a far better sense of responsability as a bonus."

"Wait, you said Marth !? I'll have a word with him !"

Ylisse stormed off following Mars. When everyone stopped following him with their gaze, Mawwi bowed her head.

"I see. I'm Mawwi, nice to meet you all !"

"Aw, aren't you a cute girl ? When we'll hit the next city, I'll be sure to get you good cloth ! You will be adorable !"

"I didn't knew this side of you, teacher."

"You have no idea, I have a notebook full of sketches I've wanted to see made by a tailor, but now I have an excuse for making tailored children cloth, just wait for it. Mawwi, I want you to tell me which you like better ..."

Shillt began to search her bag for the said notebook. Upon finding it, she browsed it with Mawwi and together, they marked the pages with the designs she liked. At some point, Mawwi managed to pull herself from her facination to ask something.

"So where are we going next Bantu ?"

"That's what we were discussing with dame Shillt. We will join with the prince party on their trip through the country. They came strait to us so the next region of the kingdom we'll visit is Aurelis. There, we will be able to buy supply and fournitures."

"Yes, and there is also a good tailor we'll stop by there. But I should mention that when I passed through the city while running after the prince, I heard that he and his friends were spotted and that they were preparing to uphold a festival to celebrate the prince first visit in the region. I think it's in less than a week from now."

"Shouldn't we be moving as soon as possible to make sure we don't miss it and that Ylisse don't miss his own celebration festival ?"

"Yeah we should. Come Eugen, help me get those adult in motion, I bet Isaac is back to his bed."

Eugen and Lizzie went after the others out of the room. Shillt closed her notebook and gave it to Mawwi.

"Here take it, you can return it later. But don't you have anything to bring with you ?"

"Hmm, I have my dragon stone and some cloth lent to me by Bantu, I think I'm ready."

At that moment, Mars entered the room carrying a big fluffy white blanket cobering his head.

"Hey, I've found this abandonned in the corridor, does it belong to someone here ? 'Cause if not, I'd like to keep it, it's so cozy."

* * *

**End note : Yeah well, this chapter is the chapter where I lost two dare. The first being to see how long can I drag the situation of not naming Grima (as for obvious reason I think, I can't name her that) and the second being having each chapter word count being roughly of X000 with X being the chapter number.** **But well, I believe it's for the best as the first made it confusing and the second just made chapter lenght increase without any increase in quality.**


	6. White Prelude in a Black Night

**Note : No I'm not dead yet. Sorry for the wait, there is no release schedule anymore if there ever was one in the first place.** **No i haven't been playing three houses y****et.** **Did some edit on the previous chapter, principally extended on Shillt's look.**

* * *

**Chapter 6 **: White Prelude in a Black Night

_A glorious celebration was held to welcome the prince and his friends in Aurelis' capital. However, despite the luxurious reception in the royal palace, she choose to enjoy the festival organised by the citizens._

_-???_

* * *

"I'm sorry, I don't know how to do that."

With regret in Bantu's eyes, he turned away. Mawwi looked at herself in the nearby mirror. The dress she had to wear was oh so impractical and neither her nor Bantu could figure out how to put it on properly.

Her new friends were kind enough to invite her, and according to Bantu, this was a great way to get to know them and understand human society. What she understood right now was that they sure liked over complexe design, to what end, vanity she guessed.

"Stay here, I am going to search for help."

A few minutes later, Shillt knocked at the door and entered followed by Bantu.

"So, you need my help with your gown ? Oh, Indeed, what a mess."

"I am terribly sorry for bothering you, miss Shillt, it's the first time I have to help with this kind of cloth."

"Don't worry sir, it's only natural to not know how to proceed the first time you see it. Now let's see ... Ah it's this kind of cloth."

Shillt picked up the various pieces of the garb scatered across the floor before coming to help the Mawwi.

"I mean, look at me, there is a reason I've decided to wear my ceremonial uniform over a dress."

Indeed she wasn't wearing anything close to what have been gifted to Mawwi and it didn't seemed any less elegant to her, why couldn't she wear something similar ?

"Hey Shillt, have you been to a bal before ?"

"Yes, once, but my dress wasn't as elaborate as yours, as my family, coming from minor aristocracy, couldn't afford one like that."

"But then, how was she given that high quality dress ? I know you ordered some cloth for her, is that...?"

"Haha don't worry it's not on my paygrade like our commission. This is actually a gift from the prince Ylisse. You are going to travel with him so he want you two to make a good impression at the court."

"Oh, I see. This is very generous of him."

"And what about the others ? They'll be here too right ? What are they wearing ?"

"The prince, Eugen and Isaac all choose to wear ceremonial military outfit. I think Isaac said something along the line of : chicks loves soldiers. I don't know what lady Elisabeth will be wearing, but we'll have the surprise tonight. And you sir Bantu ?"

The old manakete smiled amused at the question.

"Hoho, I do not think I will change garb. In my long life, I never had to partake in a similar event, I have nothing special to wear."

"And what about Mars ?"

"He went AWOL. He was told to get out of her sight by lady Elisabeth and he happily obliged. Maybe he thought the event was going to be pretty boring."

"So he won't come ?"

"He wasn't invited in the first place. Elisabeth found his behaviour suspect and signaled him as a spy now."

"What is a spy ?"

"Well, you know that currenlty we're at war with the kingdom of Valm right ?"

"What ? I thought the Hero King Marth had unified the continent ?"

"He did, however, Valm is a kingdom oversea so it's not the same continent."

"Why are they at war if they are so far appart ?"

"I don't know, it's a war started at the time of the prince's great grandfather. The distance made it so the war progressed very slowly."

"So what do spy have to do inside that ?"

"Spy are people sent by a country to gather or steal important informations on their opponent."

"But then, anyone could be a spy, yes ?"

"Indeed. And it's even more problematic with the war having drag on for so long. Usually it takes years for a spy to setup a good cover and begin operations."

"But why are they still fighting if the war is so long ?"

"The initial strike of the valmese cavalry made them penetrate very deep inside the kingdom's territory. The following decades were our side trying to root them out of the Dohlr sub continent. Each time we seemed to weaken their position, they struck elsewhere and over that, more reinforcement came from their continent. But it's over now, their main army have been repelled, I guess that they won't be able to push back and that the war will end. _sigh, and I'll never get to prove myself too._"

By that time, Shillt had finished arranging the gown and took a step back to admire the puffy dress that made Mawwi look like a doll. She opened the door and prepared to step outside.

"Well I think you're ready to go. Bantu, have you told her about the basic etiquette ?"

"Stand straight, curt bow when someone engage conversation, don't eat when being talked to, don't eat with hand, don't eat too fast, don't eat only, am I forgeting something ?"

Mawwi executed a clumsy curt bow, right leg in front left behind, torso slightly inclined and slightly lifting the trail of her dress.

"No child, this is it, word for word."

"Not bad, this should be enough to carry you through the dinner. I will point out that unless you somehow know how to dance, you should politly refuse any invitation."

"But dancing don't looks so hard. I saw some people dance when we were in town, it looked rather fun and pleasant."

"Dance performed by the common folk is different from the one performed at the court. On top of that, reaction to clumsiness isn't the same at all, whereas common folks may laugh but will help you out, nobles are more likely to shame you for lacking in education. About that, if someone approaches you and isn't being polite, you should just make a curt bow and then walk away. They aren't worth your time."

"I see. What do they say exactly ?"

Shillt frowned, turned around and open the door.

"Oh, nothing really, these persons usually brag about themselves or try to humiliate you for being of a lesser nobility than them."

On these word filled with spite, she led the way to the reception hall.

* * *

There wasn't much men at the reception, and the few present were generally too young or too old to be allowed to go at war. But there were a few noble in age to engage, seizing their chance with the ladies without too much competition. Sure enough, Isaac was among them.

"Yes milady, I am close friend with the prince. In fact, if it wasn't to ensure his protection, I would be fighting those valmeses out to their capital. N-no I cannot present you to him right now, but may I offer you a dance ?"

They observed him gestured for a few minutes before he finally gave up and reluctantly escorted her to the prince, in the middle of a crowd.

"Come, it doesn't seems like we will be able to see the prince from here."

Mawwi followed the knight to the stage, where they had a higher view on the hall.

"Look, he's over here. Lady Elizabeth is at his side."

Indeed, every daughter accompanied by their mother had gathered around Ylisse, in a waiting line asking for a dance. Elizabeth, who was wearing an evening gown of seemingly equally intricated design to Mawwi's, didn't seemed too happy about the situation.

"Why are they all gathering around him ?"

"Because the prince haven't take a betrothed, making him the best party in the continent to marry at the moment. So, you know the trope of the ball sequence ? All of these nobles are getting in line for a chance to impress him in hope he will think of them when choosing a bride."

"How will a dance help them stand out if they all dance with him ? Won't he have trouble remembering them all ?"

Shillt looked at her amused.

"That's the point.Think of it as a competition and at least, the prince can't be oblivious of their intention, he grew up listening to that kind of tale."

"Is this another part of this dreaded etiquette ?"

"Hahaha. Yes it is."

At that moment, a man, maybe in his late 50's wearing a magenta coat lined with gold walked to the podium of the stage and spoke.

"My dear friends."

"Tonight we welcome the prince Ylisse on his first visit in our beautiful country. In the name of all its citizen, I wish him an agreable stay. I wish you all to enjoy tonight party as well."

"The prince will now come to the podium grace us with his words."

After some polite acclamation, the man stepped down and joined his wife while Ylisse took his place on the podium.

* * *

After his speech, the prince was drowned in the crowd, unreachable. While they waited him, they began to move toward Eugen who was enjoying the buffet.

"Just saying he was happy to be in their company tonight and thanking them for their hospitality shouldn't have take that long."

"Easy Mawwi, anything can be done quick if you boil it down like that. You have to understand that the fastest isn't always the best way."

"Well, the long way wasn't sounding genuine either."

"In my opinion, his words conveyed his feelings very well. Those were words of respect, gratefulness and-"

"About that, teach, I think once I overheard Ylisse training on a template in front of a mirror. A template speech with hole to fill that sounded very much like that one."

"Hm, well, at least he trained for the time he would have to make a public announcement. I think he had enough time alone, I'll go fetch him."

Shillt went and drowned into the sea of contender, lifting a thumb upward as the last thing they saw of her before she desappeared.

"_sigh _I should have known there wouldn't be anyone wanting a dance with poor old me compared to the prince."

Isaac had just joined them. It seemed the last girl had disappeared into the crowd surrounding Ylisse too.

"Hey Isaac, you should ea' with me, ... food tha' good we'll be hard to come by ... when we'll visit ... the Dolhr region."

"Why do you only think of food ?"

"Why are you always thinking about girls ?"

"Thinking about girl is normal, thinking about food is-"

"Also perfectly normal, life is no a zero sum game, one does not exclude the other."

"That's some deep stuff you're saying man."

"I know right ? So come eat with me, you'll always have girl, whereas food will get more scarce in the futur."

Eugen return to the table, however Isaac didn't followed.

"Hey Isaac. I've heard you'd like to dance, would you li-"

"It's just not the same Lizzie, we're childhood friend, so ..."

"So what ?"

She leaned forward menacingly, threatening to jump at his throat the moment he misplaced a word. Isaac took a step back.

"So we ... you know, it'd be awkward if we ..."

"_sigh _Each time I give you a possibility to redeem yourself, you manage to loose an esteem I didn't know I still had for you."

"Oh my, is that who I think you are ?"

The newcomer was a girl looking around their age, with long silky black hair dressed in a white gown and wearing silver jewelry.

"Well ye~s, it's my dear Elizabeth here ! Come girl, give me a hug !"

She cringed at the mention of her name, visibly recognizing the person the voice belonged to. After a second she put a strained smile on her face so she turned over and greet the noblewoman.

"Oh, hey, good evening Celia, long time no see. How have you been ?"

"Oh, I've fair well, but what about you ? You never wrote me in the last couple of month, I was beginning to think you'd forget about me !"

"Well, I was busy during that time, so-"

"Oh you have to tell me about all of this, come we have so much to catch up !"

The girl named Celia pulled Elizabeth away toward another group of young girl. Timidly and quietly to not attract her attention, Mawwi pulled Isaac cloth to ask a question."

"Hm ? what is it Mawwi ?"

"This girl, do you know her ?"

"Her ? She's Celia Belange, daughter of the duke of Orlean. She was educate with us when her father was minister. She's quite the beauty right ?"

From this moment, the look on her face was never the same when they spoke.

* * *

And just like that they were separated. Eugen focusing on food, Isaac loudly complaining, Shillt still trying to reach Ylisse and Elizabeth forced to submit to the clutch of Celia's group, Bantu watched as Mawwi got increasingly bored.

Swiftly, male partner being rare and heiress getting their dance with the prince granted, Isaac finally got to dance and Eugen was invited too.

Meanwhile Elisabeth should have finishing putting Celia up to date with their adventures but she seemed to still be bound to listen the greatly detailed and fascinating life of each and every of her friends.

Bantu got closer to the lone manakete sitting alone.

"This isn't quite what you pictured would happen, right ?"

"Yeah... I haven't got to meet anyone interesting here in the end... Actually, I was going to leave, maybe the town festival would be more interesting."

"It wouldn't be very polite now, would it ? You've been invited, you should at least tell them you're leaving, don't you think ?"

"Right..."

Mawwi got up, stretched a bit, and made her way toward Elizabeth. When she came in hearing range, she recognize Celia's voice. It seemed she was still not done recaping her life.

"...he went like that to my father's office and asked if we could hand over food to feed them ! Just like that, can you believe it ?"

"Excuse me..."

Mawwi poked her head inside the circle beside Elizabeth. After giving a nod to each girl she asked Elizabeth.

"Hey, Liz, I know lot of time and effort were spend to do this, but can I go out ? I want to see the festival."

"You're not going alone right ?"

"No, don't worry, Bantu will come with me !"

"Well I understand, we've been too busy to be with you. Actually I'd like to come along to the festival, but there is things I must attend. Stick close to Bantu and don't get lost. I'll tell the others about that."

"Yay, Thank you Liz !"

Mawwi returned to a nodding, smiling Bantu. She then happily exited the hall, eager to see what the festival had in store for her, followed by Bantu.

"Hmm ... Elizabeth, do you mind telling us who was this girl ?"

* * *

Walking down the main street from the palace, the atmosphere was already vastly different from inside. The booming light made the night sky look way darker than it really was and the delicious smell of food cooking filled the air, contrasting with the pearly white walls ornated with gold of the palace and the perfume filled air of the reception hall.

Mawwi also liked that the music played outside sounded happier and more expressive than the one played for the nobility.

Restaurant, farmer and hunter were giving free sample of their food for passerby to try, trinket vendor had organised a lottery and all tavern seemingly would be open until the morning.

While tasting a (in her opinion) delicious roast bit of boar, the hunter engaged a conversation.

"I never saw ya folks here, so what are you ?"

Etiquette mentioned that one shouldn't speak while eating so it was Bantu that answered.

"We're simply traveler."

"Traveler eh ? Ya came just at the right time, all this festival was organized specially for the prince visit ! Tonight's basically a free meal for anyone walking in the streets harharha !"

He then reported his attention on the manakete.

"So, little girl, whadya think of my prey ?"

"It's my favourite piece so far !"

"Harha ! Indeed, I'd say I have no equal in hunting nor roasting !"

The loud noise of a booth falling suddently caught their attention. Higher on the street a group of children could be seen and in front of it, one of the street cooker had attempt to take down his stand before they reach it for free food.

"Oh no, it's the kids ! They're gonna have some trouble !"

The hunter called his collegue to take over before going to see. The owner of the restaurant guy worked for showed out and was yelling on the adult seemingly leading the group of children for destroying the booth.

"Who are they ?"

The situation clearly escaped Mawwi's understanding, why would someone try to put down their stand at the sight of some children and why would someone blame them when they clearly weren't responsible ?

"Why does it matter, they are a group of starving children ! I'm gonna beat some sense into this moron !"

The hunter clenched his fists, enraged at the situation. Bantu's arm wrapped tightly around Mawwi as the man continued to yell at the person, who they could tell was a priest now that they were closer, currently bowing down in apology.

"Hey, isn't that Mars ? Yeah, he's wearing that blue shoulder cape."

The priest straightened up and finally answered to the barrage of insult.

"Sir, the children did nothing wrong. I understand it might looks suspicious, a group of children gazing at a distroyed stand, but look at them, I'd be surprise if they could see above the table."

"BULLSHIT, OF COURSE THEY'RE RESPONSIBLE, WHO WOULD WANT TO FEED STREET RATS !? THEY CAN'T AFFORD TO PAY A MEAL, SO WHY SHOULD I WASTE MY MONEY ADVERTISING IT TO THEM !!? AND NOW WHO'S GOING TO PAY FOR THE DAMAGE !!? AS IF YOU COULD, YOU STUPID SON OF A BITCH, I'M GOING TO TEACH YOU TO PLAY SMART !!!"

The boss then punched Mars in the stomach. They crumbled to the floor, their breath whistling.

"Oh no ... this is escalating quickly."

Bantu disappeared in the crowd. Mawwi rushed to assist Mars still trying to catch is breath on the floor.

"Oh my Naga ... _wee _good punch ... _wee _musn't ... vomit... You know ... if i were not a holy man ... I would beat you senseless... oh hi Mawwi how are you ?"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT !? I'VE GOT PLENTY MORE WHERE IT CAME FROM YOU DOGPILE OF SHIT !"

As the priest braced himself for the second hit, the hunter punched the boss in the face. He fell violently on his already shattered booth.

"You should fight with someone that can defend itself, sucker."

"THAT'S IT, YOU'RE DEAD MEAT ! GET THEM BOYS !"

"Are we interrupting something ?"

A squad of soldier had suddently appeared and separates all parties. Bantu returned to Mawwi.

"Ah thanks Naga, you didn't commit a murder. I'm sorry I let you here alone, I went grab the guards."

They helped both Mars and the owner to get back on their feets. What Mawwi supposed was the leader of the guard came to them.

"Father, you should leave the place, you shouldn't bring those kids and trouble these merchants. We've receive quite a complain about you tonight."

"Captain, may I know what I'm being accused of ?"

"You are disrupting public order by bringing these unsightly children around and bothering every merchant for free food."

He stared at the guard for a few moment before finally taking the youngest child in his arms.

"I see. Come children, we're leaving, I'm sorry."

As they began to leave, the hunter rushed after Mars. Catching up to him, he offered a hand.

"Hey, are you okay pal ? It's a nasty hit you took."

"Oh you're the guy that came to help me."

Mars took the hand to shake.

"Thanks, hmm what's you're name ?"

"I'm Aban, hunter. I see what you tried to do, please come with me, I can give something to the kids."

"You are aware that came out incredibly weird, aren't you ?"

"..."

At that moment, Mawwi stepped in to break the awkward silence.

"Hey Mars, it's all right, he's one of the street cook. I already came to visit him, his meat taste good !"

She would remember the expression Aban made at that moment for a long time.

* * *

"So, you know each other ?"

Aban actually lived alone in an area a little remoted from the main street, he just happened to be the one in charge of the presentation out of his group of hunter. While the children ate to their heart content for the first time in a while, he decided it was a good time to get acquainted with this peculiar group.

"Yes, I met them a couple of weeks ago, while traveling. I decided to tag along until we entered the city. It's good that they found me, I was actually worried they'll leave without me."

"Oh right, Shillt told me you were a Valmese spy, is that true ?"

"Me ? hahaha, do you think I'd tell you if I was ?"

She took out her fire tome.

"I-I'm not, I swear on whatever you'll ask me to swear on !"

"How does this prove anything though ? You would say the same thing if you were, riiiight ? So tell me, why did you left so quickly ? Was it to inform the Valmeses that Ylisse was here ?"

"N-no ! I just wanted to help the children ! You know it, it was the only time they could get free quality food !"

"Ok I believe you. But why didn't you talked about them to Ylisse ? I'm sure he would've help."

Aban was taken aback.

"Y-Ylisse ? As, the PRINCE Ylisse !?"

"Yeah, I travel with him."

Now that he gave her a closer look, she wore very refined cloth, and looked clean and proper, like a doll.

"Well, it's more complicated than this. You see, even if he's prince, he still have to respond of his actions. Feeding a population of refugee isn't the best move he can do. Sure he will be adored by them, but the setback from nobility that own the grain and meat would be very heavy."

"Why would they be angry ? There is plenty of food, Aban here even shared !"

The man in question suddently realised what he had done.

"Yes, and that's very generous of him. But he's a hunter with a right to hunt and in return he must pay a tax per head on what he hunts. And I'm not sure lord Belange will be as understanding in regard to that situation."

"What makes you say that ?"

"The slums. He wants to get rid of them."

It was Aban that answered. His gaze was fix on his clenched fist.

"But why ?"

"It's a pretty disgusting place. But they live here, they don't have anywhere else."

"It's actually deeper than that, but for now..."

Mars stood up and called the children.

"Well, thank you for your welcome Aban. I must return them home now. Say "bye" to the nice hunter Aban children ! You should never forget how and why you got a free meal today."

"Can we tag along ?"

"Sure thing, but I wouldn't want to get your pretty dress dirty, do you have any other cloth ?"

As they left, he was left to wonder. He wanted to follow them and help the families too but he was reminded of the hefty price that came with the help and that he already needed to pay. Why was he so powerless to help those in need, why was he feeling so empty, so _hopeless _?

* * *

The trio and the children were walking away from the busy agitation that filled the street, toward a calmer, miserable silence. Only Mawwi's question and Mars or Bantu answers brought life to the alley.

"So who are they ?"

"They're the descendants of the refugees that came from the west when Valm first striked."

"But didn't the war started over a hundred years ago ?"

"That's the point Mawwi, everyone was expecting a quick victory, buy week passed, then month, then years."

"But I've heard that they've been repelled now ? Can they go home ?"

"Mawwi."

Bantu's voice was low and sad.

"This is something you will learn eventually, but mankind don't live as long as the dragonkind. They aren't the original refugees, their grand parent that could have returned to their land are either dead or unable."

"This is the only home they know, even if it's miserable. And even if they were to go back, there is no telling of the state of these land after years of war, that's why duke Belange wants to make them even more miserable. So that what they found is better than what they leave."

Finally they arrived. What they saw was a great gathering of habitation hastly made from wood, fabric, stone, and everything else they could found. After Mars blessed all of the children, they returned to their parent who were profusingly thanking him.

"You know, it might be good that you joined me here, if it's you who tell the prince about this, maybe, just maybe their future will be brighter."

A thousand thought came to her mind. She was to be a god, maybe this was her purpose ? To provide salvation to humanity, to make things right ?

"So ... as long as they don't give up, they will have hope."

"Did you said something Mawwi ?"

At that moment, one after another, the bell of the city started to ring as toward the main gate, flames began to rage. In an instant, fire rained from the sky, turning the festival into a hellfire. From the distance, scream and sound of armor plating boots could be heard.

"Oh my, it looks like we totally got owned. hey who's that man over here ?"

* * *

**End note : Valmese attack yay, because I sorely lack imagination on what to write. Seriously, I once again ask for your indulgeance should you find any mistake ****and eventually (should you find time and be in a very nice mindset) a pm to help me correct those, thank you.**

**Also, contrary to my opening statement, I have played a bit of three houses while writing it (when Mawwi go into town). Sorry for the delay, next chapter will be a dumb battle.**


End file.
